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Stargate

Now that it’s cancelled and nobody is trying to force me to watch it anymre I tried to watch Boston Legal tonight, just for the hell of it. This'd be the first time in like 3 years that I'd seen it. Quickly lost interest as the plot seemed secondary to geriatric tallywhacker jokes, and while I understand that David E. Kelly is getting up there in age, clearly his sense of humor isn't.

Anyway, I think part of my problem with the show is James Spader. Part of it is his fault (He's gotten damn fat) but part of it isn't, I guess.

So this week I’ve gotten to wondering how the various Science Fiction television series of the last five decades or so stack up. I don’t mean “What’s your favorite SF show,” I’m thinking more along the lines of “Taken objectively, which series are better or worse than other series?” Interestingly, most people I’ve already asked this question to have answered “Star Trek” without hesitation. When I’ve asked them for a bit more information, however, an interesting Venn Diagram pattern appears:

Here you go. Can't actually tell too much from this, but since this is the third installment of the only successful SF Franchise on TV Today (And if we're honest, one of the best ever), it seemed worth a look:

I've been thinking about Straight-to-DVD movies lately. In the past couple years, they've emerged as a sort of testing bed or weather baloon for the continuation/potential revival of various dead shows and/or franchises.

Part of our mandate here at Republibot is to point out changes in the mental weather of the SF community when they turn up. Sometimes these changes are subtle and gradual, so it's entirely possible that they may go unnoticed by the general population. Fortunately, our highly-paid staff in the "Department Of Noticing Stuff" is both highly-paid, and notices stuff, and periodically we pass their findings on to you, the consumer. And that's when you take it home and enjoy it!

…And just like that, it’s done. Five years, and it’s over, it all came down to this. If Stargate: SG1 was ‘The Little Show That Could,’ an unexpectedly popular show that came out of nowhere, survived several cancellations, and had a wildly successful ten-year run, then, alas, Atlantis was ‘The Big Show That Couldn’t.’ Don’t get me wrong – I’m unquestionably a fan, and there’s a lot to like about Atlantis – but it never enjoyed the mass-media popularity nor the crossover support from viewers who don’t generally watch Science Fiction that SG1 did.

The working title of this format-breaking episode was “CSI: Atlantis,” which is undoubtedly better than the one they ended up using, but which unfortunately gives the game away way too early. They were wise to change it. But just as a Rose by any other name is still as sweet, this ended up being one *hell* of an episode, no matter what they called it.

Fundamentally the Stargate equivalent of a DC “Elseworlds” story, here’s the spoiler-filled gist:

I figured out why SGA is ending a year early last night: Exchange rates. It’s not ratings, it’s not even a typically annoying lack of direction from the Sci Fi Channel, it’s just exchange rates pure and simple.

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